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Wednesday, June 22, 2011
| Posted by Craig Groves at 12:37 PM |
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Monday, June 29, 2009
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Local Boise Student Conducts Radon Testing Experiment
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Local Boise Sate nursing student, Tyson Summers, has been conducting radon testing in ten local homes around the Treasure Valley. In addition to this testing, he has created an informational blog w/downloadable brochure to inform the public on both the hazards of radon exposure, as well as detailed information on how to test your own home.
Please visit his blog at http://www.thehazardsofradon.blogspot.com/ for more information and to print the informative brochure.
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| Posted by Jenna Englund at 12:24 PM |
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Friday, June 12, 2009
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Use Your $8,000 1st Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Toward Costs w/FHA Loan
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HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced on May 29, 2009, a program that will allow first-time buyers who use FHA financing to apply the $8,000 federal first-time buyer tax credit toward loan closing costs. In a speech, he announced that FHA-insured loans would allow buyers to turn the credit into cash toward loan costs.
The HUD press release issued May 29, 2009 is published below in in full...
U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan Announces New FHA Loan Permits Using $8,000 First-Time Buyer Tax Credit Toward FHA Loan Closing Costs
WASHINGTON - Speaking to the National Association of Home Builders Spring Board of Directors Meeting, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will allow homebuyers to apply the Obama Administration's new $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit toward the purchase costs of a FHA-insured home. Donovan said that today's action will help stabilize...
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| Posted by Mike Pennington at 11:48 AM |
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May 2009 Market Update for Single Family Housing in Ada & Canyon Counties Idaho
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Our report is completed for May 2009. And I am happy to inform that amidst the doom and gloom, there is still a positive direction for the market.
With regards to single family resale homes, we have seen closings grow from 183 units in January to nearly double that, at 363 units in May. This surpasses May of last year by 12 units.
Average home prices jumped by $8,000 for Resale homes.
Canyon County and Ada County resale closings have risen consecutively for 5 straight months. Canyon County has more than doubled its closings from 74 units in January to 170 units closing in May. These are very promising numbers!
Ada County Resale inventory has dropped as well as Canyon County. This is the most important element in the overall recovery of the housing market. Supply and Demand!!! The trend for closings will continue for resale homes, as the pending sales are up for the 5th straight month.
Distressed property inventory is holding steady for Resale. The increase in sales ...
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| Posted by Mike Pennington at 11:31 AM |
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Friday, May 22, 2009
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Treasure Valley Employment Update
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I had the opportunity to attend the ACAR Agent to Agent program this week with, guest speaker Paul Hiller, of the Boise Valley Economic Partnership, Mr. Hiller went over the list of the projects they are working on to bring companies and jobs to the Boise Area. There are 29 projects and 15 are ranked #1, as companies that are more likely to land in the Treasure Valley. We are on their short list! Most communities would do well to have a total of about 12 potential projects and we have 29! With over 10,000 potential jobs from this list, we are easily in a position to land a good number of these jobs.
There are two projects especially promising! Project #4 and project #16 on their list are both Solar Module Mfg. companies. #16 on the list, Apex, is engaged in talks with Micron about their MPC plant in Nampa. They are discussing the possibility of a joint partnership and Apex is very pleased with their talks to date. This represents 1000-1500 jobs, exactly where we desperately need th...
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| Posted by Mike Pennington at 1:30 PM |
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Friday, May 15, 2009
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A Little Known First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Fact?.
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The law defines ?first-time home buyer? as a buyer who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to purchase.
For Married taxpayers, the law tests the homeownership history of both the home buyer and his/her spouse. For example, if you have not owned a home in the past three years but your spouse has owned a principal residence, neither you nor your spouse qualifies for the first time homebuyer tax credit.
HOWEVER?Unmarried joint purchasers may allocate the credit amount to any buyer who qualifies as a first-time buyer, such as may occur if a parent jointly purchases a home with a son or daughter.
Additionally?Ownership of a vacation home or rental property not used as a principal residence does not disqualify a buyer as a first time home buyer.
So?for any financially or credit challenged first-time home buyers?it?s time to start working on your parents or grandparents to help you purchase your first home! They can e...
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| Posted by Craig Groves at 4:45 PM |
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April 2009 Market Survey for Single Family Housing in Ada & Canyon Counties Idaho
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It is great to see healing finally taking place in the market! We are still not where we need to be, but here is what we are seeing from the statistics?
In the resale arena we have almost doubled our monthly closings in both Canyon & Ada County from January ?09. The average sales price continues to slip due to the high inventory levels. The levels are being kept high as a result of the short sale and foreclosure problem. Once those begin to wane, we will see a dramatic turn-around in resale inventory levels, as demand continues to increase and the new home inventory continues to decline. This will immediately impact values and we will once again see resale values grow! We now have had four straight months of growth in pending sales. April?s pending number of 1012 units is a 60% increase over January?s number. Inventories were fairly static. As far as the Short Sales, Foreclosures, & REO?s, you will see some fairly big declines. This is in part due to the discov...
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| Posted by Mike Pennington at 4:42 PM |
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Wednesday, March 25, 2009
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IHFA's Down Payment Assistance Tax Credit Advance
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The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided a federal income tax credit for first-time homebuyers of 10% of the sales price, up to a maximum of $8,000. This tax credit is available to qualified homebuyers who purchase a home by December 1, 2009. In order to help buyers monetize this tax credit for down payment and closing costs when they purchase a home, Idaho Housing and Finance Association (IHFA), through its IdaMortgage lending program, is offering a special short-term Tax Credit 2nd Loan to qualified buyers.
In conjunction with an IdaMortgage loan, a subordinate loan will be offered to qualified first-time homebuyers in the amount not to exceed 5% of the sales price or $7,000. A fee will be charged of $250 with $150 refunded upon repayment of the loan on or before the loan due date. The loan will accrue interest at 3.0% with a due date of July 1, 2010. The Tax Credit 2nd Loan is expected to be paid off from the borrower?s tax ref...
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| Posted by Bob Bass at 12:04 PM |
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Tuesday, March 03, 2009
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Out of Times of Great Challenges Come Even Greater Prospects for Success
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I just want to take a few moments to share with you where we see the market going in both Ada and Canyon counties.
In January of 2009 there were 343 single-family, detached units in Ada and Canyon County. And if you go back in time, usually January represents 5-6% of the total overall market. So what that means to you is that we are probably going to have between 4,500 and 5,500 total units for the year, not counting whatever business is created by the economic stimulus package. And if this historical trend is true, that means we are going to have 1,000 to 1,500 units less than what we had in 2008. In other words?it?s going to be tight out there.
In order to weather these projections, our company will continue to make necessary adjustments and changes. But what I have to tell you is that you can put your head in the sand or go into the fetal position?but what you really need to do is focus on the opportunities that can be created for those of you who are working. If you are...
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| Posted by Bob Bass at 11:05 AM |
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